Firearm



R. S. BLAIR.

FIREARM.

APPLICATION man NOV. 6. 1915.

Patented Sept. 14,1920.

WITNESSES: v INVENTOR A I UNITED STA TEsrATE T OFFICE.

ROBERT s. BLAIR, orsoU'rH onaiven, new innsnv.

FIREARM.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented e t/14., 1920.

Application filed November 6, 191-5. SeriaLNo. 59,914.

7 simple and practical gun in which the charge is most eflicicn-tlyprojected. Another object is to provide a gun of the above type of lightand durable construction. other object is to provide practical means fordischarging shot with enhanced uniformity of distribution on striking.Other objects will be in part obvious and in part pointed outhereinafter.

The invention accordingly consists in the features of construction,combinations of elements and arrangement of parts which will beexemplified in the manner hereinafter described and the scope of theapplication of which will be indicated in the following claims. 7 I

. In the accompanying drawing in which are shown one or more of thevarious possible embodiments of the several features .of 7

' Fig. 3. is a vertical section taken along the lines AA of Fig. 2.

Fig. 4; is a similar view taken along the line B-B of Fig. 2.

Fig. 5. is a front end view of the muzzle of a gun barrel.

Fig. 6. is a sectional view taken through the breech end .of the barrelas along the line CC in Fig. .3.

Fig. 7. is a longitudinal sectional view of a portion of a loaded shell.

Fig. :8. is a sectional view taken along the line D-D .of Fig. 7

Similar reference characters refer to similar parts throughouttheseveral views of the drawing.

Referring now in detail to the barrel shown in Fig. 1 .of the drawing,which may be considered to be the upper barrel 1 of the pair of barrelsshown in Fig. 2 of the drawing, this barrel is preferably circular iscentral horizontal section at the breech portion 2 and is provided witha heavy wall 3. The chamber i is also preferably circular in crosssection, but from the point at which the section shown in Fig. 6 istakemwhich may be assumed to be just in advance of the chamber, thewalls unequally taper or converge toward one an other-in the directiontoward the mnzzleof the gun. In this manner the muzzle is formed ofelliptical cross section as shown in Fig. 5 of the drawing, theconvergence of the. upper and lower walls in a direction toward themuzzle being much more sharp thanthat of the side walls and it beingunderstood that the term sidewalls as well as the expressions upper. andlower are used with reference to the barrelof the gun when it is heldhorizontally inposition for.

discharge. 7 v g 7 It i-sto be noted that the side walls 5 at the muzzleof the gun are thinner than at the breech section shown in Fig. 6, andalso that the npper and lower wallsfi and 7 are somewhat thinner thanthe corresponding portions at the rear end of the barrel just in ad-Vance of the chamber. The side walls. 5, moreover, are in thisembodiment of the invention somewhat thinnerthan the upper and lowerwalls .6 and 7 at the muzzle, as the, latter have to resist not only thetensile but .a'bending stress. Under certain conditions, however, theside walls at the muzzle may be made thicker than the top -and bottomwalls.

.It is to be noted, that the convergence of the walls of the barreltoward one another a in a direction from the breech to the muzzleextends T overv a material portion of the length-of the barrel and bythe latter is meant a substantial fraction of its total length. In thepreferred construction moreover there is an even tapering or convergingof the walls of the barrel throughout their entire length from the frontend of the chamber to the muzzlethis convergence being greater of coursewith the upper'and lower walls than with the side walls and in no casedo the walls converge at an angle greater than 10 degrees with the axisof the barrel.

In the construction shown in Fig. 2 the lower barrelfis provided withsidewalls 8 which are substantially parallel, although the upper andlower walls -9 and 10 converge sharply to give the ellipticalconformation of the muzzle. Even the converit strikes a wall iselliptical in outline. This arrangement with a given number of shotgives a greater permissible deviation of the aim from the object in ahorizontal direction than in a vertical direction, and as in wingshooting there is a greater likelihood of missing sidewise of the objectthan verti cally, there is here an increased effectiveness to compensatefor this increased tendency to miss.

Even though the elliptical pattern made by the shot from a barrel ofthis type on striking is much more effective than a circular pattern,there would be nevertheless, as

in the usual circular pattern a lack of uniformity of distribution ofthe shot by reason of a considerable congestion at the center and ascattering of the shot around the edges. To remedy this there isprovided a construction of shell shown in Figs. 7 and 8 of the drawing.This shell although well adapted for use in connection with the form ofbarrel above described is also suitable for use with an ordinary barrelof circular cross-section and its chief advantage would be utilized insuch use. Considering now the construction of this shell there is shownat 12 the ordinary paper shell having the usual powder charge 18 withsuitable ignition device not shown, and having its forward edge crimpedat 14: tohold the wad 15 in place. The charge of shot 16 which isseparated from the powder by the usual wad 17 is arranged in an annularchamber about the central longitudinal wad or core 18. This Wad may bemade of soft twisted paper or other suitable material and is preferablyof cylindrical form.

In the action of the device last described with the above barrel it maybe noted that as the charge is exploded the shot are gradually crowdedinto a mass elliptical in cross-section and a certain part of which isformed by the core 18. The shot of course soon leave the core in theirflight and as they diverge and converge from their annu lar dispositionthey readily cover the central portion of the pattern without causingundue congestion at such point. Moreover as the total number of shot isassumed to be substantially normal, the shot charge being slightlylonger in the shell to compensate for the displacement of the core 18and the congestion of shot about the center of the pattern being avoidedthere are accordingly, more shot available for the outer portion of thepattern and the distribution is materially more even.

It will thus be seen that there is provided apparatus in which theseveral objects of this invention are achieved.

As various embodiments might be made of the above invention and asvarious changes might be made in the apparatus above described it is tobe understood that all matter herein described or shown intheaccompanying drawing is to be interpreted as illustrative and not in alimiting sense.

Having described this invention, I claim 1. In gun construction, abarrel having its inner surface converging toward the muzzle through amaterial portion of its length, the angle of convergence being greaterin a vertical than in a horizontal plane.

2. In gun construction, a barrel having the inner surface of its muzzleportion elliptical and its inner surface adjacent the middle of thebarrel more nearly circular.

3. A gun barrel choked more fully in a vertical than in a horizontalplane, said choking being gradual throughout a substantial portion ofthe length of the barrel.

4. In gun construction, a pair of gun barrels having their central axes,substantially parallel and each barrel having its upper and lower wallsfor a material portion of their length converging more sharply towardits axis than the side walls thereof.

5. In gun construction, a pair of gun barrels having their central axessubstantially parallel and each barrel having its upper and lower wallsfor a material portion of their length converging more sharply towardits axes than the side walls, the angle of convergence of the walls ofone of the said barrels being more sharp than the corresponding angle ofconvergence of th walls of the other barrel.

6. In gun construction, a pair of gun barrels having their central axessubstantially parallel and each barrel having its upper and lower wallsfor a material portion of their length converging more sharply towardits axis than the side walls thereof, the relative convergence of theside walls and top and bottom walls being substantially the same in bothbarrels and the angles of convergence being greater in one barrel thanin the other.

7 In gun construction, a barrel having a substantially elliptical muzzleand having its side walls of different thickness of mate-. rial fromthat of its upper and lower walls.

8. In gun construction, a barrel having an elliptical muzzle and havingits side walls thinner than its upper and lower walls,

9. In gun construction, a barrel having its inner surface convergingtoward the muzzle throughout a material portion of its length, the angleof convergence being greater in a vertical than in a horizontal plane,and

' means tending to crowd the shot outwardly toward the walls of saidmuzzles as they are discharged therethrough.

10. In gun construction, in combination a barrel having its innersurface converging the middle of the barrel more nearly circular, theside walls of said barrel at the muzzle being of different thinness fromthe top and bottom walls.

12. In gun construction of the class described, a barrel having a borewhich is substantially circular at a section adjacent the breech end anda'section which is elliptical adjacent the muzzle thereof, the innerwalls of said barrel extending substantially evenly from one of saidsections to the other.

Signed at South Orange, in the county of Essex and State of New Jersey,this 1st day of November, A. D. 1915.

ROBERT S. BLAIR.

